London pre-open: Stocks to open higher after US pares losses to end flat

3rd Oct 2014 07:42

The FTSE is expected to move higher on Friday morning, tracking a late rally in the US which resulted in a flat finish Stateside ahead of the country's September jobs report.City sources predict the top tier index will open around 55 points higher than yesterday's close of 6,446.39.US stocks recovered from early losses on Thursday to end broadly flat, as investors turned their attentions from the disappointing European Central Bank conference to Friday's payroll data, which is expected to have risen to 215,000, compared to 142,000 in August.Michael Hewson, chief market analyst at CMC Markets UK, said August's number was well below expectations of 225,000 and markets are hoping this will be revised upwards."The concern is that given some of the data seen this week, which has been on the weak side, we could well be seeing a little bit of a slowdown as we head into the fourth quarter," he explained."The unemployment rate is expected to remain at 6.1%, but it is worth keeping an eye on average hourly earnings, which are expected to move further above the Fed's 2% inflation target to 2.2% for September from 2.1%."Also on the cards on Friday are services purchasing manager's indices for Spain, Italy, France and Germany, which Hewson notes are only expected to "reinforce the difficulties and politics at play in the euro area".In company news, Easyjet increased its outlook for the half year ended 30 September from between £545m and £570m to between £575m and £580m, thanks to a strong finish to the summer season, which saw increased revenue per seat. The group has also benefitted from the Air France pilots' strike in September is expected to increase easyJet's revenue by around £5m.Engineering and project management company Amec has announced that Kent Masters and Stephanie Newby will join its board as non-executive directors once the acquisition of Foster Wheeler is completed. Masters is currently president and chief executive of Foster Wheeler, while Newby has been a member of the American company's board since 2004.In response to the draft determination published by The Water Services Regulation Authority, United Utilities has submitted a revised plan which would result in average household bills falling by 4.1% in real terms over the 2015-20 period, compared with a 2.3% reduction in its June plan.